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Reply With QuoteIs there also a reverse anomaly here. When going through the RAAF deaths there were a large amount whose place of birth was Britain.Originally Posted by Kyt
Άρης
United Kingdom 
Australians in the BoB
There is some interesting information on the BoB site about the nationalities of those who participated, and who are entitled to wear the Clasp (which was limited to Fighter crews of specific squadrons). Due to the nature of the Empire and the Dominions, it seems to be a rather complicated, and contraversial, topic - even after nearly 70 years.
One example is "who was Australian?":
http://www.battleofbritain.net/0004.htmlIn the list supplied by the Australian Archives, we find that there are 52 names of Australian pilots that served with Fighter Command in 1939 and 1940, yet only 21 are officially listed as being Australian, the others are recorded as being British. The main reason for this is that many that went to England to serve a short service commission with the RAF, they travelled on British passports which in those days the majority of residents either, from British families, coming from a British family, or as many Australians preferred to at the time, hold a passport of the mother country.
In this case, the RAF when establishing an airman's nationality were guided by the issuing authority of each airman's passport, and not the country of birth. Also, a number of airmen, although born in Australia and other commonwealth countries, lived in England for a number of years prior to the outbreak of WWII. A good example of this was F/Lt Richard Hillary, he was born in Sydney Australia but travelled to England with his father (a government official) when he was only three years of age. Here it is possible that he travelled to England on his fathers passport and was therefore regarded as a British citizen. It is unfortunate that the official records state that he is British, as Australians will always regard him as an Australian.
(Document 18 - scroll to the end of the page for the new window - includes a fuller explanationon the BoB Clasp entitlement)
Australia Is there also a reverse anomaly here. When going through the RAAF deaths there were a large amount whose place of birth was Britain.
Άρης
United Kingdom Unfortunately, there are many anomolies that pertain to nationality, force joined and force served with. You highlight one such instance.
Another one that I haven't been able to decipher yet is the designation of Indians who served and died in the RAF, and yet are categorised as being RIAF on CWGC. The numbers are very small in comparison to other nationalities but still annoying.
Australia Hi Kyt,
Is this the same Richard Hillary of which you wrote in your first post?
HILLARY, RICHARD HOPE
Flight Lieutenant
74677
08/01/1943
23
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
United Kingdom
Panel 2.
GOLDERS GREEN CREMATORIUM
Australia Funny you should mention him, Geoff. I only realised he was Australian-born several days ago when transcribing the details of Mayers for you. I know that sounds ridiculous given he is one of the most well-known RAF pilots through his The Last Enemy but...
I don't even have his book on my shelf, nor have I read it. No idea why not. Always assumed it'd always be available, I guess, so have concentrated on the rarer titles or more obsucre subjects.
Australia A query of Australians in the Battle of Britain
Over the past couple of years I have seen many questions by different people requesting information on "Australians" in the Battle of Britain.
The Battle of Britain Historical Society nominate 32.
There are others who state 25.
I have listed below all of these queries, even though I feel I could personally dismiss them due to date, area of death, squadron etc etc.
Many are listed on the Australian Commemorative Roll which lists those Australians who died while with the RAF or other allied force.
Some survived the war so I find them difficult to research.
One is listed on the Australian Commemorative Roll as dying in 1940 however he is not on the CWGC site.
This is the first on the list:Commemorative Roll - A D Horan
A D Horan
Rank: Pilot Officer
Unit: Unknown unit
Service: Royal Air Force
Conflict: 1939-1945
Date of death: 1940
Cause of death: Missing
BAYNE, David Walter Squadron Leader 26077 257sq 28/05/1963
D W Bayne_P
David Walterb: 17 Apr 1908r: 29 Aug 1955d: 11 Jun 1986
Australia BULL, NUGENT JOSEPH Sergeant 904181 149sq RAF 9/09/1940
Bull, Joseph Nugent Palmer (1908 - 1940) Biographical Entry - Australian Dictionary of Biography OnlineNugent Joseph Bull
Rank: Navigator/Sergeant
Unit: No 149 Squadron
Service: Royal Air Force
Conflict: 1939-1945
Date of death: 9 September 1940
Place of death: Battle of Britain - reported missing over Channel and presumed dead
Cause of death: Killed in action
Cemetery or memorial details: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL, Surrey, United Kingdom. Panel 12
Notes: Served with Britain. Fighting in Spanish War when WW2 broke out; unable to return home so enlisted in RAF in England.
BULL, JOSEPH NUGENT PALMER (1908-1940), undertaker and 'bridegroom of death', was born on 3 April 1908 at Newtown, Sydney, fourth son and youngest child of native-born William Nugent Bull, undertaker, and his Dublin-born wife Mary, née Palmer. Educated at the Marist Brothers' High School, Darlinghurst, and St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, young Nugent was strongly influenced by Brother Gerard, a Marist teacher prominent in Sydney Catholic intellectual circles. An extrovert at school, Nugent was an excellent cricketer. After matriculating in 1926 he joined the family firm W. N. Bull Pty Ltd at Newtown. Later he worked in the accounts department at Luna Park and for the Mansion Hotel group. He remained active in St Joseph's literary and debating society, Newtown, the Campion Society and St Joseph's College Old Boys' Union and often attended the Domain, supporting Catholic speakers and heckling socialists.
Some Australian Catholics had a long attachment to Spain. From 1931 they followed closely the establishment of the second Spanish republic; the dismantling of church schools there was critically reported in the Catholic Freeman's Journal and similar newspapers. Determined to defend his faith and volunteer with General Franco's forces, Bull resigned his job in July 1937, travelled to Spain via the Vatican and enlisted in the Spanish Foreign Legion on 16 October at Talavera de la Reina.
Bull was the only Australian to fight for the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War. Knowing no Spanish, he was placed with French volunteers in the Joan of Arc bandera where he drew on his schoolboy French. The legion's hymn, 'We are the Bridegrooms of Death', was sung each day on the parade ground. Bull was wounded in the battle for Teruel at the end of 1937 when both sides slogged through heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures. Having sustained a serious knee injury and no longer fit for infantry duty, he transferred into the transport division, where he drove the trucks which maintained supply lines to the front. After Franco's victory, Bull was demobilized on 17 July 1939 and made his way, via Lourdes in France, to London.
On the outbreak of World War II as Nugent Joseph Bull he enlisted in the Royal Air Force and was posted to No.149 Squadron. Trained as an air-gunner, Sergeant Bull flew what he described in letters home as 'cracker' raids over Germany, bombing factories that had provided arms for Franco's forces. On 9 September 1940, soon after midnight and having just left the English coast for Boulogne Harbour, his aircraft was struck by a severe electrical storm and, with an engine in flames, was abandoned. One pilot managed to reach the English coast safely and the bodies of two of the crew were later recovered from the sea. Despite several false alarms, which raised the family's hopes that he had been seen in a French prisoner-of-war camp, Bull was eventually declared missing, presumed dead.
Select Bibliography
J. Keene, Fighting for Franco (NY, 2001); J. Keene, ‘An Antipodean Bridegroom of Death: An Australian with Franco’s Forces in the Spanish Civil War’, Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 70, no 4, Apr 1985, p 251; family papers (privately held).
Australia CURTIS, AUBREY GLEN
Flying Officer
36160
8sq RAF
10/08/1940
I do not have access here "yet"!
Casualties Aug 1940This section covers RAF personnel killed between 1 - 10 August 1940. ...... CURTIS, AUBREY GLEN. Fg Off. He was killed whilst flying Blenheim I, ...
www.rafweb.org/Members%20Pages/Casualties/1940/Casualties_1940_08_1.htm - 262k -
Australia EARL, RAYMOND PATRICK Pilot Officer 41770 61sq RAF 26/09/1940
Commemorative Roll - Raymond Patrick Earl
Raymond Patrick Earl
Service number: 41770
Rank: Pilot Officer
Unit: No 61 Squadron
Service: Royal Air Force
Conflict: 1939-1945
Date of death: 25 September 1940
Cause of death: Killed in action
Cemetery or memorial details: KVIBERG CEMETERY, Sweden. 4. A. 7.
Australia GARFOOT, ALLAN Flying Officer 40617 20sq RAF 30/09/1940
In Memory of
Flying Officer ALLAN GARFOOT
40617, 20 Sqdn., Royal Air Force
who died age 26
on 30 September 1940
Son of Ruby Elizabeth Honeyman, of Bondi, Sydney, Australia.
Remembered with honour
KARACHI WAR CEMETERY
No further info
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